Gareth Bryant's Pageviews

Monday, February 6, 2012

My thoughts on the Mawlid (Celebration of the birthday ofMuhammad [Peace be upon him]):


Author's note:
I know people are gona be kinda pissed with me on this one, but, like I always say, "Sometimes, you just gotta say somethin'".
So, here it goes:
During the month of Rabi`-ul-Awwal, the fourth month on the Islamic-Calendar, Muslims, from all over the Muslim-World, are celebrating the birth of Muhammad (Peace be upon him). This celebration of his date of birth has been an annual, staple celebration for centuries. However, for Muslims, there's a very crucial question that they must seriously ask themselves: What justification do they have in celebrating the birthday of a dead person, regardless of whether they're a Prophet or not?

Now, as I've said in the author's note, I know that there are gonna be some people whom will not necessarily take very kindly to my reservations against the celebration of the birthday of Muhammad (Peace be upon him). But, let it be...
...I'm more than willing & able to deal with any & all backlash that can/will come with this article.

Anyway, there's yet additional question that Muslims, who commit themselves to the celebration of the birthday of a dead person, must ask themselves: Where did this practice originate from? Whom from among the Muslims originated this practice? Did they adopt this practice from peoples of a foreign religion, that celebrates the birthdays of the dead, "holy-men", righteous people, etc.?

Now, Islamically, based upon principle, which is based upon classic text, any & all actions to & for a dead person are automatically considered acts of worship, and Islamically, any & all acts of worship are automatically prohibited, unless there is specific, non-abrogated evidence, directly from either the book of Allah (the Qur'an), or the Prophetic-Tradition (the Sunnah), which warrants the Islamic lawfulness of such an action.

And, I can say, very confidently in fact, that there is no such evidence, from neither the Qur'an nor the Prophetic-Tradition, which gives credence for Muslims to celebrate the birthdays of either prophetic or non-prophetic individuals whom are dead. And, I simply say this, because there is direct evidence in both the Qur'an & Sunnah which give detail as to how Human beings began to deviate from the purity of Islamic-Monotheism.

This historical path to Shirk (Ascribing false qualities to Allah/Polytheism) actually begins with the deaths of 5 righteous persons from among the people of Noah (Peace be upon him), their names are the following: Wadd, Suwa`, Yaghuth, Yau`q, and Nasr. (Qur'an: Chpt.71, V.23) After their deaths, the Devil came to the people of Noah, in an evil attempt, which unfortunately, worked, to lure them away from worshipping Allah, and to begin worshipping idols. The people of Noah had begun to build monuments in honor of the righteousness of these 5 individauls. But, as time went on, they were inspired by the Devil, to diviate further & even further from the path of Allah, until they had eventually began to commit full-throttle polytheism. (Qasas-ul-Anbiya' [Stories of the Prophets], Ibn-Kathir)

So, it was because of the people of Noah, that we as Muslims are in no position to do anything to or for the dead, unless it is Islamically legislated, for fear that it may very well lead to Shirk. However, unfortunately, most Muslims are not concerned with the danger in celebrating the birthday of a dead person, in spite of the fact that there are no Islamic justifications for it to occur.
Even Muhammad (Peace be upon him) himself, once said, "And do not exaggerate in praising me, like the Christians exaggerate in the praise of Jesus the Son of Mary." (Bukhari)

Now, in knowing the general character of Muhammad, and his eagerness to prevent anyone from his nation, especially during his respective lifetime, would he even tolerate the celebration of his own birthday. I can confidently say that he would never tolerate such a thing. So, in closing, my final statement is the following: People claim to celebrate the birthday of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) out of some type of respect or that they have for him. But, check this out: How can a person celebrate the birthday of Muhammad (Peace be upon him), claiming to respect him & love him, when they don't live their lives according to the standards that he lived his life?

First & foremost, he worshipped Allah, exclusively, he was respectful to all of creation, even towards those who oppressed him, even when it came to fight in battle, he protected the innocent & never abused his authority over anyone, he was a loving father, husband, leader, teacher, man, and Human.
If we truly claim to respect & love Muhammad (Peace be upon him) we had better live our lives according to how he lived his, as opposed to celebrating something that is not Islamically sanctioned, which can potentially be the cause for being placed in the Fire, if Allah so chooses to not forgive us for doing something that is a Bid`ah (an unsanctioned religious action).

#I'm just sayin'!!!